The General's Daughter
by SKLewis
Summary: Charlie has always wanted the truth about her mother and Miles. Jarlie, slightly AU
1. Chapter 1

The General's Daughter

somewhere west of Colorado Springs, Colorado

Plains Nation

Rachel Matheson sat down next to Miles, who gave her a look. "Usually, you avoid me as much as possible." he remarked.

"Not entirely true." she smiled. "Besides, we need to talk tonight."

"About what?"

"I have something to tell you. Something I probably should have told you a long time ago but didn't. I had my reasons then and I have my reasons now."

"Okay. I'm listening." Miles really didn't like the way Rachel started the conversation but figured it would be worth it to listen.

"We used to be together. It was not the best decision of my life but it is what it is and I regret it now."

"No, you don't. Stop rationalizing it. And please, don't tell me you're going to spend the next hour telling me about your regrets."

"I loved Ben very much. That relationship wasn't fair to him."

"You weren't married to him yet."

"Yes, I know that." She took a deep breath.

"Get to the point, Rachel, if you have one." Miles was getting irritated.

"Charlie is your daughter." she said, quickly.

"I'm sorry, what?! I must have heard you wrong."

"No, you didn't.

"What exactly do you mean, Charlie is _my_ daughter?" Miles repeated, stunned.

"I need to spell it out for you? Surely you know how babies come about. " Rachel answered, dryly.

"Wait, wait, this is impossible." He got up and began to pace around the fire.

She laughed softly. "Hmm, no, it's not, and you know it very well."

"Did Ben know?"

"I never told him but he may have suspected. He was a smart man after all."

Miles' eyes narrowed. "I seem to recall Charlie being early or something. Like Danny was."

"No," Rachel shook her head. "Charlie was full term, a perfectly healthy beautiful baby."

"Why are you telling me this now, anyway? It's not like it would really matter now, she's twenty one years old."

"It is going to matter. I just don't know how or why exactly but it is going to matter that Charlie is the general's daughter."

"So?" Miles wished for a drink. Anything would do, just something strong enough to erase the previous five minutes. Or really, the previous five months. He'd could be tending his bar, Ben could be tending his crops, Danny would be alive, Charlie would be wreaking havoc in some little village he'd never even heard of before she came marching into his bar convinced her Uncle Miles would fix everything. Well, he hadn't and he couldn't.

"Trust me on this." Rachel insisted.

"Rachel, I need more then that! Why now? Why after all these years?" A new thought struck him. "Does Charlie know?"

"Charlie doesn't know. Doesn't even have any idea. As far as she knows, Ben was and is her father. And, Miles, he _was. _Ben was the one who raised her and loved her."

"Because you never gave me a choice! And what? I don't care about her? Because let me tell you, I care a whole hell of a lot about that girl!"

"When she was six, she fell out of a tree and broke her arm. Ben had to set it because there was no doctors around, and no pain meds to be found. He sat up with her every night for a week while she cried."

"Rachel, I'm not going to play that game with you. You missed a lot yourself." Miles' words hit their target well.

She looked away and sighed. "None of that really matters right now. I just needed you to know the truth now."

"After more then twenty years," Miles replied, sarcastically, "it is now apparently necessary."

"Would you have cared then?"

"That's what doesn't really matter now, isn't it? I don't even know what to say!"

"Say nothing. I married the responsible brother, the one who would give Charlie a father and a future."

Miles gaped at her as she stood up and walked away, toward the tents. He really had no words.

He sat back down on the log, staring into the night for a long time, thinking. He supposed nothing really changed between him and Charlie. However, there was Rachel. Would she find it necessary to tell Charlie,too? Why had she broken her silence after all these years, why would it matter so much? Miles didn't know and wasn't sure he was ready to know the answers.


	2. Chapter 2

The General's Daughter

somewhere west of Colorado Springs, Colorado

Plains Nation

next morning

"Hey, um, my mom wants to talk," Charlie came up to Jason, who was finishing packing up his tent and supplies. "If you see Miles, can you tell him we're going down to the stream?" She pointed toward the stream bordering their campsite.

"Yeah, sure. Something wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. Something's up anyway, but when isn't it?"

"Okay. You want me to come along, hide in the bushes in case you need some support?" Jason smiled.

Charlie laughed, "No, I'll be fine, it's just my mom. She won't hurt me."

"Seriously, I could come, my stuff is all packed up for moving out." he offered again

She shook her head. "Nah, I'll be fine. I'll be back in a few minutes anyway, I'm sure."

"Okay." he shrugged and gave in, "Just give a shout if you need me."

"Jason, it's my mother, okay? Besides, I can take care of myself, thank you very much." She gave him a quick smile and went to meet Rachel, who was standing a few yards away.

"Yeah, so why do I keep having to rescue you?" he muttered, watching her walk away.

"Who's that?" Rachel asked when Charlie joined her.

"Jason."

"I know that much. I also know he's Neville's son."

"He's not Neville."

"Obviously."

"I'd have shot him by now. Or else Miles would have."

"Okay. Wait up. " Rachel walked faster to catch up with her daughter. "Jason means something to you, doesn't he? You go off with him sometimes, just the two of you."

"I don't know." Charlie turned to face her mother. "You didn't really as me to come down here to give me dating advice, did you? Because I get enough _hints_ from Nora, who doesn't understand why I haven't slept with him yet, and _looks_ from Miles, who doesn't like me going off with Neville's son, which is exactly how he sees it but I don't think he'd like it much no matter who it was."

Rachel listened to the outburst without saying a word.

Charlie continued, "So unless you're finally going to tell me what is going on between you and Miles, I don't think you get to give dating advice or any other kind of advice! I don't want to hear it from you about me and Jason!"

"You know about me and Miles?" Rachel asked, softly.

"There is definitely something between the two of you that neither of you will talk about." She crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

"You're right, there is. I think it's time you know a few things."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." They sat down together on a patch of grass. Rachel sighed. "This may take a while."

"We don't have a long time, Miles is going to want to get going soon." Charlie warned.

"I know. This is harder then I thought it'd be. I didn't think I'd ever have to do this."

"It's really that bad?"

"You're smart enough, you've figured out that Miles and I were together."

Slowly, Charlie nodded, she knew that. It was kind of hard not to, the way Miles avoided talking about Rachel and vice versa.

"It was before I married Ben. It was a stupid affair, one that I still regret happened. However, one good thing came out of it." Here Rachel stopped and looked directly into her daughter's eyes. She had, after all these years, finally gotten her child back and now, she knew as well as she knew her name, that this was going to complicate things even more between them. "You did."

Charlie's eyes widened and her mouth fell open as the pieces fell together in her mind. "No." she whispered and shook her head. "No, no, no, no!" she shouted. She tried to get up but Rachel held onto her.

"I'm sorry."

She pulled away, not even hearing Rachel and ran up into the campsite, into Miles' tent.

He looked up from studying a map at her sudden entrance. One look and he knew Rachel had told her. "Aw, crap."

"Did you know? All this time, did you know?" she demanded.

"No, Charlie, I didn't." he answered, wearily.

Some of the fire left her eyes, but anger still flashed. "How do I know you're not lying to me? You have before, haven't you? I have to get out of here, away from her, away from you, away from everything!" She ran out the door, as quick as she'd come in.

"What happened?" Jason had nearly been knocked over by her in the doorway. "Charlie went off with Rachel and that's the only thing I know."

Miles studied him a minute. "Go after her, will you? I think you're probably the only person she'll listen to right now."

Jason hesitated. "What should I say?"

"Figure it out! Just go before she disappears!"


	3. Chapter 3

somewhere west of Colorado Springs, Colorado

Plains Nation

Jason had lost sight of Charlie fifteen minutes ago. He'd been keeping an eye on her but she'd managed at last to dodge him. He pulled himself over a fallen tree trunk and finally spotted her, sitting under a tree, crying.

"Charlie, it's me." he called softly, because he wouldn't put it past her to be armed and shoot him.

"Go away."

He came closer instead and sat down near her, but not too close because he'd seen what she could do in hand to hand combat. He figured he was safer with some distance between them.

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Okay." Jason shrugged. "We don't have to talk. I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

Charlie scoffed. "I don't need a knight in shining armor."

"Well, that's good news at least because I'm pretty sure I don't have any," he laughed, pulling at his dirty sweaty shirt.

"It wasn't suppose to be funny," she growled at him. "Just leave me alone, okay?"

"What exactly did your mom _say_ to you?"

"What happened to "we don't have to talk"? she turned away from him, swiping at her face with her hands. Charlie hated crying in front of people but especially Jason.

"Have it your way for now, but I'm telling you if we're not back in, oh, an hour or so, Miles will send a search party after us."

"Yay." she muttered, ignoring him.

Jason tried to get more comfortable as he was sure he would be sitting under that tree until that search party was sent out and had found them. He'd never met a more stubborn girl than Charlie. "You couldn't have picked a more comfy spot?" he grumbled. No answer so he supposed she really wasn't going to talk and it would be a very long uncomfortable time.

Charlie broke the silence a short while, just as Jason had hoped she would. "My mother finally told me what happened between her and Miles. Or at least some of it." She turned back toward him.

Jason nodded. "Okay. Why is that so bad? You've been wanting to know, haven't you?"

"Not this. Oh, not this." she leaned against the tree and looked like she would start crying again.

"What's so bad, Charlie? It can't be that bad?"

"_I_ happened!" she burst out.

Jason furrowed his brow, considering this. "But that would mean, that would mean, Miles is your,"

"Father." she interrupted. "Yeah, exactly." she did start crying again, much to his dismay.

He thought furiously for a minute, crying women weren't his forte. "No, he isn't." he insisted. "You said it yourself, you hadn't even seen him since you were like three years old. A real father would've wanted to see you, right?"

"I doubt my mom would tell me all this if it were a lie."

"Did Miles know?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I asked him before I came down here,but I think she's told him. He did seem to know what I was asking."

"Well, then, it isn't his fault, is it? You can't be mad at him for something he didn't even know." Jason looked pretty pleased with himself, coming up with that nugget, like he'd just solved Charlie's problems for her.

"Wanna bet? And besides, my mom knew." she took a deep breath. "Miles is _not_ my father, I don't care what she says! I watched my dad die five months ago, I buried him, Miles isn't and never will be my father."

Jason studied the ground and wouldn't look at her. "I know and I'm sorry."

"Hey," she nudged him with her boot, "I don't blame you for that. You're not your dad."

"But you blame Miles for something he didn't even know about?"

Charlie sighed, it was no fun having Jason rain on her pity party. "I guess it wasn't really his fault."

"Not really." he agreed.

"Sometimes, I think it would be easier to be alone then to deal with all this crappy family stuff. I don't know if I can take anymore of this."

"We could run away together, head north or hey, I've always wanted to see California."

"I don't think that'll work."

"Why not?"

"We still have to get the lights on."

"Okay," he shrugged. "Then I guess that means going back to camp. You'll have to see your mom and Miles." Jason warned cheerfully.

"Eh. I can just ignore them for a while, can't I?" she pulled herself to her feet.

"I will keep them away from you." Jason bowed royally, then grinned. He'd finally coaxed a smile out of Charlie.


	4. Chapter 4

somewhere west of Colorado Springs, Colorado

Plains Nation

After watching Charlie run away, Miles had strode down to the stream, where Rachel still sat, tears streaking down her face. "You just had to tell her, didn't you?" he practically yelled.

"It's in the book, Miles. I would rather she learn the truth from me then from the book." Rachel sighed. "It's about the only thing Aaron hasn't seen in it yet, otherwise he might have told her."

"She might have taken it better from him! She barely even knows you and you've just shattered what family she thought she had!"

"I guess I should go talk to her, try to explain better."

"You can't."

"I'm not going to let you tell me how to talk to my daughter."

"Charlie's run off."

"Of course she did." Rachel looked at him. "What else should I have done?"

"Not hurt her yet again. You've done enough of that."

"I deserved that." she hung her head. "I'm going to assume Charlie doesn't know why I left in the first place?"

He groaned. "No, she doesn't. Might be putting the pieces together now, but I've never told her anything."

"Good. Let's just leave that alone for now, this is enough for her to have to hear." Rachel stood up and faced him. "You really think that boy can get her to come back?"

Miles shrugged. "She likes him. Pretty much the only reason I haven't shot him yet."

"That's exactly what she told me."

"If we're lucky, he'll sweet talk her into coming back soon. I'd like to get a move on."

"Do you even know anything about this boy?"

"His name is Jason. He's Neville's son. Charlie thinks he's worth keeping around. He's proven a few times he's loyal to our cause."

"That's it?"

"More then you knew."

"I barely even know Charlie." she whispered.

"That was kind of my point."

"And, what, you know her?" Rachel walked away from him, as she really didn't want to hear about how Miles knew her daughter better then she did

"I know her better then you think, despite the fact she is fond of giving me the silent treatment." Miles caught up with her. "I was the one she came to find Danny. She believed her _Uncle _Miles could find her brother and make everything better. I couldn't and didn't. You have no idea the nights I lay awake listening to her cry when she thinks no one can hear her. She's lost just about everyone she ever cared about or who ever cared about her!

"Miles," Rachel started to say.

"No, I'm not done! You listen! I wasn't there for Charlie when she was a kid because you wouldn't let me! You kept me away from her, away from your happy little family! You didn't want me there!"

She was silent. It was true, she had done her best to keep Miles away. "You did see her some. Danny,too."

"Charlie actually remembers,you know. Me, her, convertible with the top down and a blasting radio."

"That was when Danny was born." Rachel smiled. "She talked of nothing else for weeks."

"She's not a little girl anymore, Rachel. She's all grown up."

"I know. I missed everything."

"Yeah. We both did."

They were both silent for a while, the mistakes of the past speaking loud and clear between them.

Grudgingly, Miles spoke, breaking the reverie. "Why does it matter so much now?"

"It says the general's daughter holds the key. I only know one general who's going to make it into the Tower." Rachel explained, matter of fact.

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Seriously, Miles. Monroe doesn't have a daughter. You do."

"As you've established." He ran his hand through his hair."So, Charlie is the one who can get the lights back on?"

"I don't know what the key is. I'm hoping Charlie does, even if she doesn't realize she does."

"Wonderful." he muttered. "All right. I guess we might as well head back to camp. Sitting here isn't solving anything." He got to his feet and dusted his pants off, "First, we need to find Charlie." He headed back into camp.


	5. Chapter 5

somewhere west of Colorado Springs, Colorado

Plains Nation

Charlie had been waiting in the campsite when Rachel and Miles returned from the stream, helping the others finish packing the tents and supplies. She'd not said a word to either her mother or her uncle but just picked up her pack and headed out with the others, sticking close to Jason.

By nightfall, Rachel had had enough and sought out her daughter. She found her sitting crossed legged on a blanket inside their tent, flipping through the book, although how Charlie had pried it out of Aaron's hands was something Rachel wasn't sure about. "You have every right to be angry, Charlie." she sat down next to her.

Charlie just flipped another page and let her hair fall over her face, not even looking up. She was looking for the pages that referred to her specifically, not all that techno babble she didn't understand anyway.

"Maybe I shouldn't have done what I did, but Charlie, you know who your real dad was." Rachel persisted. "He loved you, he took care of you."

Finally, Charlie raised her head. "My dad died five months ago. I watched him die, did you know that? Miles is _not_ and _never_ will be my dad."

"True. And he wouldn't ask that of you." Rachel nodded. "Ben was your dad, in every way that mattered."

"Then why does it matter now?" she demanded.

"I don't know. I really don't know except that book you're looking through says the general's daughter holds the key."

"I don't have a key. And I'm not finding that in here."

"Maybe not a physical key but maybe something you know. You might not even know that you know it?" Rachel took the book and turned a few pages, she knew the pages she was looking for. "Here." she gave the book back.

Charlie read the pages carefully. "I don't get it."

"Neither do I. But, Miles is the general so I figure,"

"That's the best explanation you've got?" Charlie broke in, disbelief in her voice. "That's why you just had to tell me all this?"

Slowly, Rachel nodded. "That's why."

"Lousy explanation."

"It is. If it makes you feel any better, Miles never knew either."

"It doesn't."

"Didn't really think it would but had to try."

"So, um, I guess I'll go, take a walk or something."

Rachel gave her a slight smile. "Go where? Jason waiting?"

"No! He's just a friend."

"I've seen you with him. He's more then a friend to you."

"Oh, great. Now you're going to get on me about him,too. Are you going to also give me a curfew? Because Miles already tried that," Charlie grumbled as she went out of the tent.

Rachel stared after her, thinking about all she'd missed. It was such a good feeling to finally talk to Charlie about things like boys and curfews, even if Charlie wasn't exactly willing. She supposed in light of everything she had told her daughter, it would be mostly a one sided conversation for a while but no matter, it was still a good feeling.

Leaves crunched as Charlie walked through the woods. Miles had drawn guard duty that night and she was determined to find and talk to him. She only knew he wouldn't be too far from their latest camp, but it wasn't totally dark yet so she wasn't worried about finding him.

"I could hear you a mile away." Miles' voice seemed to come right out of the bush and made her jump a foot in the air.

"How did you know I wasn't militia?"

"They're not that stupid."

"Thanks a lot!"

"I can only imagine you came out here because you want to talk." he said, abruptly.

"You're not any good at talking. I've tried." Charlie informed him.

"Neither are you." he retorted.

"Yeah."

The woods were quiet and still.

"I talked to my mom."

"Did you?"

"She says you never knew either."

"Charlie, I was an ass back then. Your mom made what was probably the best decision for you."

"Okay." she scuffed the toe of her boot into the dirt. "What about now?"

"You really want me to be your dad now?" he remarked.

"No. I had a father. I just thought maybe," she stopped, not even sure what it was she wanted.

"Look, I've promised to take care of you. That's what I've done." he hesitated, he'd never been good at this sort of thing, he'd never really had to be. "Charlie, I would've taken care of you even if your mom hadn't made me promise." That was as close as he could get to admitting how much she'd come to mean to him out loud.

"I would just come along anyway."

"Yeah. You would have because you're entirely too much like me for your own good."

"Really?"

"It's not a good thing."

"I don't know about that." she said, almost shyly.

Miles snorted. "You are impossible, kid."

"Learned from the best." she replied, suddenly giving him a hug.

It startled him for a moment but he returned the hug. "

"So, the general's daughter, huh?"

A/N - I'm completing it here for a couple reasons. 1, it's now getting too AU for my liking - I did think Charlie would have more to do with the Tower and getting the lights back on, and 2, I never intended to play with the mythology, I leave that to TPTB. That said, I am working on a second story that will sort of continue this, it is how I would've continued anyway, except following canon better. Keep a look out for it!


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